1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to an attachment assembly for coupling a facemask to an athletic helmet used in contact sports, e.g., a football helmet. More particularly, the invention relates to an attachment assembly which can be manipulated to quickly release the facemask from the helmet.
2. State of the Art
Players of contact sports use helmets and other body protective gear. Typically, the helmets include a rigid outer shell positionable about the skull of the player, a relatively impact-absorbent internal cushioning between the shell and skull, and a rigid plastic or metal wire-frame facemask over the face. The outer shell and cushioning are designed to prevent or minimize serious injury to the head and body of the players. Likewise, the facemask is adapted to provide protection to the face while permitting the player good visibility and the ability to vocalize, as required by the play of sport.
Nevertheless, players may become seriously injured, requiring access to the face of the player. For example, it may be necessary to gain access to the airway of an athlete in a medical emergency. However, gaining such access, e.g., to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, has long been a problem. If a player is seriously injured, e.g., if the player may have sustained a neck injury, the player's helmet cannot be removed without causing potential damage to the neck. This is because when the player is lying on his back, the shoulder pads lift the player's shoulder between 1.5 and 2.5 inches off the ground. The size and shape of the helmet are adapted to permit the head to substantially lie in an anatomical orientation in conjunction with the shoulder pads. However, removing the helmet would cause hyperextension of the neck, potentially exacerbating the injury. Therefore, the helmet is left on the injured player's head, and the facemask of the helmet is removed to provide access for medical treatment.
As there exist various ways in which the facemask can be attached to a helmet, there exist a number of ways in which to remove the facemask from the helmet, all of which are unsatisfactory. First, some facemasks are attached to helmets with clips which are bolted to the helmet. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,531 to Nimmons and U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,759 to Zide. The clips utilize a bolt through a clip which is secured inside the helmet with a nut. However, the nut cannot be accessed while the helmet is worn, and rotating the bolt (in the direction of removal) causes consequent rotation of the inner nut, failing to disengage the bolt from the clip. One technique available to remove the bolted-on facemask while the helmet is on the athlete is to use a bolt cutter to cut through the wire frame of the facemask. Another technique is to cut the plastic clips which anchor the face mask to the helmet. However, the use of either technique on an injured player is less than ideal. The removal causes severe jostling of the injured player and is certainly undesirable.
Other facemasks are coupled to helmets via clips designed to offer quicker release of the facemask from the helmet. Such clips are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,875 to Servatius, U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,843 to Strickland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,807 to Snow, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,729 to Coates et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,537 to Bowlus et al. These clips are designed to release the facemask from the helmet to thereby prevent injury to a player when the player's facemask is forcibly grabbed by another player. However, these clips often fail to provide the secure coupling of the facemask to the helmet required for high contact play. In addition, if it is necessary to quickly remove the facemask without providing the force for which mask is designed to automatically disengage, removal may nonetheless be difficult.